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avrilamber's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The books plot is actually very minimal, so it’s a wonder how it manages to span 600 odd pages. But I adore Donna Tartt’s prose, I think it’s gorgeous. Some of the most mundane and ordinary plot points are written so descriptively, it really helped carry me through the book without me wanting to put it down.
I think a lot of the references to the classics were lost on me, but I don’t think I missed out on anything by not knowing the references either.
A great piece of modern literature, that really gives off the dark academia vibes.
Graphic: Gun violence, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Murder, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Incest and Rape
plathandthebelljar's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Death, Drug use, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, and Addiction
Moderate: Antisemitism, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Toxic friendship, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Gun violence, Racism, Biphobia, Cursing, Incest, and Murder
Minor: Misogyny, Medical content, Grief, Antisemitism, Suicide attempt, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Self harm
kenna13's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Suicide, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Mental illness, Drug use, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Death, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Car accident, Incest, and Animal cruelty
shancraic's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Murder, Alcohol, Death, Incest, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Alcoholism, and Classism
Minor: Rape
dr_sol's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Nevertheless, the plot felt dragged on in some parts of the book and I've asked myself several times if Donna Tartt is scared of ending chapters. (Over 500 pages of story put into 8 chapters!!)
The book was gloomy and it felt like you were in your own dark world full of dead languages, feelings of superiority and the loss of morality alongside the characters (who I've grown quite fond of, even after I've learnt their flaws (even Bunny has earned some sympathy))
Since I've borrowed this book and therefore it was in German, I plan to get it in English and read it again some time.
I'm already excited!
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Addiction, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Bullying, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Vomit, Sexism, and Death
taylorc19's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Now, for what I didn't like so much:
- This book dragged. It took me two months to finish it, and I'm someone who usually can finish a book within a few days of opening it. I couldn't push myself to finish more than a chapter at a time. I found my eyelids growing heavy and my yawns becoming more frequent as I tried to slog my way through the dense yet uninteresting plot. This story could have been written in 300 pages. I gained absolutely nothing from the monotonous chapters of the character who died's funeral or from the search party for them. I found myself skimming through the last 40% of this book, and I wouldn't say I missed much.
- Maybe I'm not made for character-heavy, low-plot books. But that brings me to my next grievance: how can you write a character-driven book and make every single character utterly vile? The only character who I found myself somewhat sympathizing with by the end was Judy, the neighbor of Richard who gossiped too much and frequently did drugs such as cocaine and meth. Could we really not give any more positive personality traits to the core six students or Julian? Camila and Charles (the twins) appear to be kind and relatively receptive towards Richard when he first joins the group, however, they spiral into a violent alcoholic (Charles) and a manipulative liar (Camila). Bunny goes from jovial and bubbly to a person who blackmails their friends and is so insecure he is driven to a mental breakdown. And, my God, don't get me started on Richard. He is possibly the most uninteresting person I have ever had the displeasure of reading about. He seems to live such a pitiful existence where all he wants is acceptance from others. With character-driven books, I feel like I have to actually care about the characters. I wish nothing but the worst for basically every single person in this book. These characters were snobby, elitist, reprehensible, borderline sociopathic criminals yet I'm still supposed to believe Richard's favorable descriptions of them?
- Why are we adding random bouts of incest into this book???? I don't understand what that added to any of the characters nor why it was important to the plot??? It felt included merely for the shock factor.
- I think this book would have benefited from switching narrators during the second half. After the murder (and I use that term rather loosely) occurs, Richard should not have been the narrator. He doesn't know what's going on at all, he isn't involved in any of the police proceedings, and he spends the last 300 pages of the book rambling in a drunken stupor about-wait for it-NOTHING! I wish we had switched narrators to Henry or even Charles. People who were actually being questioned and were actually plotting on how to get away with the murder. Henry is framed to be this psychopathic mastermind. However, we don't actually get any explanation of his thoughts after the murder, who he planned to pin it on, or how he explained virtually anything to the police. I understand it's not a police-proceedings book, but I mean, come on, give us some explanation as to how they got away with this instead of just throwaway comments at the end by a paranoid Charles. Giving us Henry's point of view would have also explained the ending more since that came out of nowhere.
- Why did we throw in that line about Richard having the urge to rape Camila????????????? And why did we never touch on that again???????????
This book was dense, boring, and had no real point. Having superfluous, flowery language and rambling about Greek studies does not make for a good book! I almost DNF'd it hundreds of times while reading, but I needed to be able to say I gave it a fair shot. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone unless you enjoy reading about miserable creatures who think they're God's gift to the world. Someone please tell me what I'm missing that is so magical and life-changing about this book.
Good riddance, Hampden. I won't miss you.
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Classism, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Antisemitism, Death, Homophobia, Medical content, Mental illness, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Murder, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Violence, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Incest, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Toxic friendship
berrytart's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
(francis best character!!)
Graphic: Addiction, Classism, Racism, Incest, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Death, Islamophobia, Cursing, and Murder
Moderate: Rape, Antisemitism, and Car accident
Minor: Cancer, Suicide attempt, and Suicide
milooo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Suicide and Alcoholism
Moderate: Incest and Murder
luhchan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Gun violence, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, and Drug use
katenaum's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Drug use, and Suicide
Moderate: Homophobia, Classism, Suicide attempt, and Incest
Minor: Self harm, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Racial slurs, and Vomit